Vogue Writes about 'And Then We Danced'

On February 11, Vogue published a story about And Then We Danced, a Georgian-Swedish film by Levan Akin, Swedish-born Georgian director. The movie follows Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani), a traditional Georgian dancer, in the National Georgian Ensemble, as he is swept off his feet when a new dancer joins his troupe, named Irakli (Bachi Valishvili). The American lifestyle and fashion magazine writes that “in And Then We Danced, Georgian traditions and forbidden love intertwine.”

The Vogue story about coming-of-age film features parts of interviews from the director and main actor. Akin revealed since when exactly he had his heart set on making this movie:   “[In 2013] 50 people in Tbilisi tried to have a Pride parade, which would have been Georgia’s first, and they were attacked by thousands of people in a counterdemonstration that was organized by the Orthodox Church and some far-right groups,” Akin tells Vogue. “It struck a chord.”

Gelbakhiani who portrays Merab’s character stated that though he was worried about people’s reactions, he saw a chance to make a change. “In the beginning, I was a little hesitant because of the topic, and because of the fear from [our] society,” Gelbakhiani told Vogue. “Then I realized, sometimes you don’t have any tools to fight, and you don’t have any tools to change some political issues. I had the chance to say something and to change something.”

Read the full story here.

By Nini Dakhundaridze